Monaca, PA - The Johnson & Wales Charlotte women's volleyball team participated in the USCAA Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Penn State-Beaver over Labor Day Weekend. The Wildcats went 2-1 in the event.

The Wildcats opened the tournament against Penn State-Fayette (2-3) on Friday night. JWU defeated the Roaring Lions in 4 sets, 3-1. Senior Emily Arends led the way with 13 kills and 8 digs. Ahmarie Young added 9 kills and 10 digs. Mikayla Seymour-Tucker tallied 19 digs, while Niecee Perfeta dished out 13 assists.

Saturday morning saw JWU face off against Penn State Dubois (0-3). The Wildcats swept the match 25-22, 25-15, 25-18. Young had 8 kills, 4 service aces, and 8 digs, while Aimee Evans added 7 kills. Seymour-Tucker had 12 digs, while Arends served 4 service aces. 

Defending national champion Cincinnati-Clermont awaited in the semi-finals, and the Cougars played up to their billing in the first two sets of the match, winning 25-15 and 25-10. The Wildcats rallied to win sets three and four (25-21, 25-22) to force a 5th and deciding set. The Cougars stormed out to an 8-2 lead in the 5th, before JWU ran off five consecutive points to draw within one. JWU then scored three of the next four points to nose ahead at 10-9. The final few points were tightly contested, as UCC eventually prevailed 15-13. Kaylee Atkins led the Wildcat attack with 10 kills. Perofeta and Logan Smith combined for 25 assists. Seymour-Tucker had a career-high 27 digs, Ahmarie Young tallied 20 more, and Emily Arends added 15 digs of her own. 

"I was very pleased with how the weekend went as a whole," said Coach Phillips after the tournament. "We got to test ourselves against some of the best competition in the USCAA and we played well. Our freshman continued to improve and our upperclassmen stepped up in a big way this weekend."

JWU returns to action tonight with a match at Salem College at 7:00pm.